Dear Journal,
Today we moved out west a couple of weeks ago. We built a soddie house which we made out of blocks of soil, strips of grass, and roots. We hope that there are no prairie floods, fires, dust storms, or droughts this year. My dad had a friend that was building a soodie house on the side of a hill and a snack came out and bit him. He died three days later from a disease that the snake was carrying. Since we live out in the prairie the doctor could not come until it was to late, now my mom is very careful about us getting sick. The Mosquitoes here are everywhere and carry so many diseases. My dad is scared that we are going to go into debt because the prices on crops are going down fast. We are wishing for high tariffs so that there will not be a lot of foreign competition, but right now the tariffs are low. A lot of our friends on the prairie are already heading east because they cant afford it out here anymore with all the droughts that have been going on. My best friend Becky just moved and I miss her very much. There is not a lot of people out here for me to play with now. There is a lot of work we have to do out here. The work is back breaking. Today my dad and brother planted, hoed, and harvested the plants. Since the season of planting is almost over my dad is going to work on construction. My mom cooked, cleaned, and made clothes today. Tomorrow she said she is going to make soap and butter and raise the cows. Today my younger brother, sister, my older sister and I collected wood, sewed quilts, and husked corn. Tomorrow I think we are going to collect more wood for fuel and carry water. My mom said that tomorrow she will teach us what the other kids in the east are learning in school. I do not like not going to school anymore, when we were in the east I went everyday that we were not working in the factories. Mom said that we might get a cow this year. Cattle is very popular here, pork used to be popular but now it is cattle. It tastes much better. I have to go to bed now but i will write tomorrow.
Love,
Mary Elizabeth.
Today we moved out west a couple of weeks ago. We built a soddie house which we made out of blocks of soil, strips of grass, and roots. We hope that there are no prairie floods, fires, dust storms, or droughts this year. My dad had a friend that was building a soodie house on the side of a hill and a snack came out and bit him. He died three days later from a disease that the snake was carrying. Since we live out in the prairie the doctor could not come until it was to late, now my mom is very careful about us getting sick. The Mosquitoes here are everywhere and carry so many diseases. My dad is scared that we are going to go into debt because the prices on crops are going down fast. We are wishing for high tariffs so that there will not be a lot of foreign competition, but right now the tariffs are low. A lot of our friends on the prairie are already heading east because they cant afford it out here anymore with all the droughts that have been going on. My best friend Becky just moved and I miss her very much. There is not a lot of people out here for me to play with now. There is a lot of work we have to do out here. The work is back breaking. Today my dad and brother planted, hoed, and harvested the plants. Since the season of planting is almost over my dad is going to work on construction. My mom cooked, cleaned, and made clothes today. Tomorrow she said she is going to make soap and butter and raise the cows. Today my younger brother, sister, my older sister and I collected wood, sewed quilts, and husked corn. Tomorrow I think we are going to collect more wood for fuel and carry water. My mom said that tomorrow she will teach us what the other kids in the east are learning in school. I do not like not going to school anymore, when we were in the east I went everyday that we were not working in the factories. Mom said that we might get a cow this year. Cattle is very popular here, pork used to be popular but now it is cattle. It tastes much better. I have to go to bed now but i will write tomorrow.
Love,
Mary Elizabeth.